An anthology of Fr. Walter Ciszek’s unpublished works in the form of writings delivered at retreats, reflections on biblical passages, letters to friends seeking spiritual direction, and the memoirs and reminiscences of many priests and friends who cherished his memory and whose lives he touched, this collection offers the great spiritual riches of a holy and heroic priest who is under consideration for canonization.
Volunteering to serve the Eastern Church in 1937 as pastor of a Polish church near the Russian border, Ciszek and other missionaries were apprehended by Russian officers and falsely charged with “spying,” a crime punishable by imprisonment in Moscow and exile in Siberia. Ciszek endured 23 years of confinement under the harshest conditions — 15 years in prison and eight in exile that included five years in solitary confinement.
While his first published book With God in Russia describes this time of isolation and the experience of suffering in the Soviet Union, With God in America centers on the final 21 years of his life after his transition and readjustment to the U.S. In the continuation of his vocation as priest, Ciszek led many conferences and retreats for religious sisters, offered spiritual counsel to all seeking his holy wisdom, and answered thousands of letters collected in shoeboxes that he considered his “apostolate of correspondence” to all who valued his moral judgment.
In With God in America the addresses to the apostolic sisters in retreat especially are rich in spiritual treasures. On the topic “The Presence of God,” Ciszek distinguishes between God’s “ordinary” presence in the world reflected in nature and the universe and His “supernatural” presence bestowed by sanctifying grace.
Contrasting a baby and a saint, he explains that the grace received by a child remains constant until he matures when it increases or decreases, but God’s supernatural presence “is surging in the saint, because each time the saint prays (or even thinks of God), God fills the soul with more sanctifying grace.”
Simplifying this point, Ciszek adds that “God is, and must be where the action is,” meaning that as often as man turns to God and thinks of Him, God responds: “Every time, then, that we turn to God in prayer, He turns to us. Every time we think of God, He thinks more of us.”
God as Friend and Lover always reacts when man initiates. In this way man experiences God’s presence more frequently and more deeply. Awareness of God’s ordinary presence in the beauty of creation leads to a keener sense of God’s supernatural presence in each person’s life: “As faith increases, our realization of God’s Holy Presence in us and in the world and people around us grows ever deeper.”
In the address entitled “Faith,” Ciszek warns of the danger of taking persons and blessings for granted, whether friends, family, or the gift of life lest the wonder of these great joys diminishes and loses its splendor.
Likewise, if someone takes faith for granted and equates it merely with knowledge of God found in dogmas and doctrines, he loses a sense of the personal “encounter” of God “where we stand on God’s level and know Him and love Him as a sacred, wonderful person.” Without this sense of God’s personal love and nearness to each soul, faith “can become sterile, impersonal knowledge.”
Without prayer, encounter, or relationship, faith diminishes as it becomes perfunctory and lacks spirit. Like life, faith either grows or starves. Alluding to Christ’s words on “faith” in the Gospels, Ciszek argues that Christ’s references always mean a trusting, living faith, a belief in Him “as a Person who can and will change our lives,” not “just some cold body of truths.”
He cites the prophets and psalmists who glorify God because of their living knowledge of His miracles and love in constant encounter (“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want”). Saints like St. Patrick who pray “Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me” sense divine Providence in the concrete realities of daily experience, “knowing Him in every action of every day.” This living, trusting faith that never excludes God transcends definitions and concepts.
However, when faith is taken for granted or becomes merely an intellectual state, man suffers the temptation of relegating God to a remote universe:
“Don’t we so often act as though God is somewhere out there in the vast, impersonal sky, too concerned with the really big things of the world to be thinking of us?”
Ciszek asks how seriously people believe in the power and efficacy of prayer: “…do you believe, I mean really believe, that you are talking to God: that He, the Almighty Creator of the universe, is really interested in every word you whisper?”
In the address entitled “The Mystery of Suffering,” Ciszek especially clarifies the meaning of Christian suffering found in no other religion or philosophy. Reviewing prior understandings of the role of suffering, he observes that Job’s friends regarded suffering as a sign of God’s disapproval or judgment. The Stoics viewed suffering as a test of human fortitude and heroism.
While Christ did not remove the anguish of suffering, He did provide “a reason for suffering” and an example of its profound purpose. Christ did not suffer the agony of the cross with Stoic apathy because “He begged, begged God to take it all away,” and He complained with the cry of “Why hast thou forsaken me?” Christ accepted suffering for only one good reason: “because He knew that His sufferings would purify the world and save it.”
Human pain, like Christ’s agony, is allowed and has purpose for the sole reason of redemption — “to be co-redeemers with Christ” and, in St. Paul’s words, “to fill up those sufferings that are lacking in the sufferings of Christ.” Just as man cooperates with God in the creation by being fruitful and multiplying, he also contributes to God’s saving work in the world to redeem sinners. Through suffering that man neither desires nor deserves that he would have rejected if possible, God will not only save souls but also “raise us up once more, even as He raised His Son.”
In his letters to persons seeking spiritual counsel, Ciszek consistently gives advice that follows a constant theme: fidelity to prayer and the fulfillment of daily obligations: “Take life as it comes, doing what it demands, and leave the rest to God.”
He advises people making difficult decisions to choose the alternative that “appears more reasonable” because of higher motives rather than follow sensual impulses — words of wisdom from St. Ignatius. Special lights from God are not required when the light of reason indicates the right course of action. As Ciszek’s life in Russia illustrated, a Christian must never hesitate in his abandonment to God.
Ciszek always turns to common sense as a sure guide, reassuring people that the state in which they find themselves is the condition where God wishes them to be at that present moment. Always realistic and down to earth, he advises persons to ground themselves in the here and now and not dwell in the past or speculate about the future: “Remember, your past is in the present, and the future is where you are now.”
With great simplicity he gives insight into God’s method of judging souls: “You are going to be judged on how you affected other people, either for the good or for the bad.”
In his biblical reflections on episodes like Christ telling the disciples to become fishers of men, Ciszek meditates on the topic of vocation — “to obey the voice of conscience without questioning” it in the way Peter, James, and John followed Christ. Whether it is marriage or religious life, every vocation carries with it a sense of the unknown and the risk of failure, but “the risk is always viewed as worthwhile.”
Although every vocation entails burdens and trials, “the principal factor in every calling is the deliberate effort to persevere” and never to let discouragement undermine the original commitment. All who are faithful to their vows receive “the grace to live that life as it should be lived and receive the graces and powers they need.”

The Empty Tomb

In a reflection on the episode when Christ tells the crowd that those who hear the word of God and do it are His mother and brothers, Ciszek offers this simple, straightforward exegesis: The love in family life between parents and children, husband and wife, and brother and sister “must be ordered to the love of the Father.”
Christ honors “the eternal significance of all human relationships” because these bonds of affection in the primary relationships of family form the charity that leads to the love of neighbor and also increases the love of God.
In another reflection based on the incident of the empty tomb, Ciszek sees the simple and humble women hearing the message of Christ’s Resurrection from the angel as the reward for their gift of faith, “a Revelation communicated to them by the power and pleasure of God.” These souls blessed with this extraordinary grace illuminate St. Paul’s term “fools for Christ.” As the “nobodies of this world,” they receive special favors from God for “constantly doing good unnoticed, while helping others without discrimination, and never tiring in their efforts” — a perfect definition of the Christian way of life.
These are a few of the spiritual gems from the treasury of Fr. Ciszek’s holy life and storehouse of wisdom. To read these writings is to deepen one’s faith, grow in the love of God, appreciate the miracle of human life, and wonder at the nearness, presence, and intimacy of God’s special love for each person.
Like the body that grows in health from the nourishment of food and the mind that expands in knowledge from great books, the soul increases in holiness from the spiritual depths of saintly lovers of God like Fr. Ciszek.

Vatican City, Feb 17, 2018 / 05:10 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Saturday the Vatican announced that Pope Francis has reconfirmed Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston as head of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, also reconfirming seven members…Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to the Trump administration’s 2019 federal budget proposal on Monday, the U.S. Catholic bishops are urging for a budget that shows greater concern for “‘the least of these” and warning that the U.S. “must never seek…Continue Reading

A Connecticut high school student may have to decide whether to remove a Planned Parenthood sticker on her laptop or leave her Catholic school after administrators told her to remove it, her parents said. Sophomore Kate Murray’s parents told the Greenwich Time that…Continue Reading

February 8, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – The Bible’s condemnation of homosexual acts should be taken in “context” with Biblical times, Jesuit Father James Martin toldGeorgetown University students recently. Martin said as well that Catholics who support gay “marriage” should have no problem…Continue Reading

JACKSON, Mississippi, February 2, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – A bill banning abortion on babies more than 15 weeks old passed the Mississippi state House today 79-31. House Bill 1510 would make Mississippi the state with the most pro-life laws if it…Continue Reading

Just three Democrats in the U.S. Senate supported a bill on Monday that would prohibit abortions after 20 weeks when unborn babies are capable of feeling pain. The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which has strong public support from Republicans…Continue Reading

ROME, January 30, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – In an exclusive interview two weeks after issuing a profession of immutable truths about sacramental marriage, Bishop Athanasius Schneider is inviting his brother bishops around the world to join in raising a common voice…Continue Reading

As Katholisch.de, the official website of the German bishops, reports today, Cardinal Willem Eijk, the Dutch cardinal and Metropolitan Archbishop of Utrecht, requested that Pope Francis bring light into the confusion concerning the question as to how to deal with…Continue Reading

When Selena Miller, a practicing Catholic, applied to DePaul, she had no idea it was a Catholic university. Damita Meneves, another practicing Catholic, said she has met only one other Catholic student in her first year at DePaul. DePaul is…Continue Reading

His Eminence, Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, spoke recently with Thinking with the Church, hosted by Chris Altieri, who is also a regular contributor to Catholic World Report. Cardinal Burke responds to questions regarding the interpretation and reception of the post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Amoris…Continue Reading

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By DON FIER (Editor’s Note: His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, Patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and Founder of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Wis., graciously took time out of his busy schedule to grant The Wanderer a wide-ranging interview during a recent visit to the Shrine. Included among the topics…Continue Reading

By RAYMOND LEO CARDINAL BURKE (Editor’s Note: His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke delivered the address below at the 32nd Annual Church Teaches Forum, “The Message of Fatima: Peace for the World,” Galt House, Louisville, Ky., July 22, 2017. The address is reprinted here with the kind permission of Cardinal Burke. All rights reserved. This is part one of the…Continue Reading

Catechism

Today . . .

There’s nothing, it seems, that the abortion chain Planned Parenthood won’t sue over. On Thursday, affiliates of the abortion chain in seven states sued the Trump administration for cutting funding for their questionable teen pregnancy prevention programs. The Daily Nonpareil reports the lawsuits argue that the Trump administration wrongly cut their funding prematurely and without cause. Nine groups, including Planned Parenthood affiliates in Washington, Iowa, North Carolina, South C

CAMBRIDGE, England, February 15, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – A respected Catholic historian and philosopher challenged Cardinal Blase Cupich during a lecture last week about Pope’ Francis so-called “revolution of mercy” that has caused what many are defending as a “paradigm shift” in Catholic practice. Professor John Rist, after listening to a February 9 lecture at Cambridge Universityin which Cardinal Cupich praised Pope Francis’ “paradigm shift” in Catholic practice, asked the Cardinal at the end of the lect

VIENNA, Austria, February 14, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Austria’s bishops, led by Vienna’s Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, are indignant over a retired bishop’s passionate defense of Catholic teaching in opposing Church “blessings” for homosexual unions. After Bishop Andreas Laun, the retired Auxiliary Bishop of Salzburg, Austria, published Monday his strong rebuke of the German bishops for proposing to bless homosexual couples, there has been an inten

Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago is all for clarity. It has been a consistent theme, as when in September of 2017 he issued a decree banning guns in all parishes, schools and other facilities across the archdiocese “so there would be absolute clarity on our position.” His official statement put “clarity” in italics. When he was bishop of Rapid City, he called for “civility and clarity” in discussing legislation that would limit abortion, but he…Continue Reading

BEIJING — A group of influential Catholics published an open letter Monday express their shock and disappointment at report that the Vatican could soon reach a deal with the Chinese government, warning that it could create a schism in the church in China. The Holy See has been in negotiations for several years with the Chinese Communist Party and is now belie

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Within a week of taking office on January 23, 2017, President Trump reinstated and expanded the Mexico City Policy, now called the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance, which bans U.S. funding for abortions overseas. The expanded policy prohibits $9 billion in U.S. taxpayer money from funding foreign organizations that perform or…Continue Reading

By HANNAH BROCKHAUS VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) — The Congregation for the Causes of Saints has approved the second miracle needed for the canonization of Blessed Pope Paul VI, allowing his canonization to take place, possibly later this year. According to Vatican Insider, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints approved the miracle by a…Continue Reading

By STEPHEN M. KRASON (Editor’s Note: Stephen M. Krason’s Neither Left nor Right, but Catholic column appears monthly [sometimes bimonthly] in Crisis. He is professor of political science and legal studies and associate director of the Veritas Center for Ethics in Public Life at Franciscan University of Steubenville. He is also cofounder and president of…Continue Reading

By LISA BOURNE (Editor’s Note: LifeSiteNews ran this story on February 5.) + + + A Catholic priest is calling on bishops to excommunicate the 14 Catholic-identifying U.S. senators who voted two weeks ago against banning late-term abortions. He is also calling on priests to deny the Catholic pro-abortion senators Holy Communion. “Today is the…Continue Reading

By JAMES LIKOUDIS The centuries-old theological debate concerning the existence of Limbo for unbaptized babies (the limbo puerorum as a state of natural happiness) led to the 2007 publication of the document The Hope of Salvation for Infants Who Die Without Being Baptized by the International Theological Commission (ITC). The commission concluded there are “serious…Continue Reading

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Our Catholic Faith (Section B of print edition)

By DON FIER For a variety of reasons (a defect of consent, a diriment impediment, or a defect of the required form), many supposed modern-day marriages entered into by Catholic persons are invalid from their origin in the eyes of God and the Church. However, as we saw last week, depending on the circumstances, the Church has procedures by which…Continue Reading

Q. Concerning what our Blessed Mother said in Fatima about the rosary, I am confused as to whether or not she meant us to meditate on the mysteries while we are praying the Hail Marys or whether she meant us to meditate on the mysteries right before we say the Hail Marys. The consensus seems to be that we are…Continue Reading

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Second Sunday Of Lent Readings: Gen. 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18 Romans 8:31b-34 Mark 9:2-10 In the first reading today we hear about Abraham’s nearly incomprehensible act of faith and love for God shown in his willingness to sacrifice his own son. We have to be careful not to read this in a vacuum. This test, which…Continue Reading

By ANDREA GAGLIARDUCCI (Wanderer Editor’s Note: Catholic News Agency on February 3 published a commentary concerning a 1989 Vatican response to dissent against Humanae Vitae. Below is an excerpted version of that commentary. Following that, we reprint the full text of the 1989 Vatican response, which, as the CNA commentary explains, is now available on the Vatican’s website. Please also…Continue Reading

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK A joke sometimes recounted among clergy goes along these lines: Someone greets a wise old priest by asking, “What’s new?”, and he responds, sagely, “Christ is risen!” The humor here is less about what’s new than about the fact that everything, other than the only true revolution of Christ’s Incarnation and triumph over death, is…Continue Reading

By CAROLE BRESLIN Great sinners make great saints. It takes a strong-willed child to become a saint. These are statements which would easily fit saints such as Mary Magdalene and St. Augustine. In the thirteenth century, a young lady free in spirit and strong in will led such a life that she was essentially driven from her home village, but…Continue Reading

By CAROLE BRESLIN In the lives of the saints one thing is very common: They have such a strong desire to do God’s will that nothing will hinder their work. Many saints, despite illness, weak health, or many other obstacles achieved their goals. Frequently the amount of work accomplished by such individuals seems humanly impossible — and, of course, it…Continue Reading